ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES: FACULTY AND CURRICULUM
DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE

This is a proposal to launch a curriculum development project
for Asian American studies throughout the twenty campuses of the
City University of New York (CUNY). Recognizing that the public
schools in New York City is a major feeder of students for CUNY,
this project will also provide opportunity for collaborative
partnership with educators in the New York City public schools.
Both CUNY and the New York City Public Schools are grappling with
educational issues brought to focus by the rapidly growing Asian
American presence in the system. These issues cannot be adequately
addressed without a comprehensive curriculum and_e faculty
initiative.

The focus of this project will be: a) to develop introductory
core courses for Asian American studies, b) to introduce infusion
models that would facilitate the integration of Asian American
studies material into traditional academic disciplines, c) to
establish institutional links with a broad range of Asian American
organizations so as to keep Asian American studies abreast with the
latest developments and to maintain the field as an informed and

dynamic discipline.

RATIONALE

New York City has one of the largest and fastest growing Asian
American populations in the nation. Presently, the City’s public
school enrollment for Asian Americans is 8%. The CUNY’s enrollment
stands at 11%. However, both systems are falling behind in keeping

up with this phenomenon. Courses offered in the systems on Asian


American studies are few and random, without any programmatic
design. In the general curriculum, there is even less attention
paid to the subject.

Given the multicultural and global context in New York City,
we have found the traditional paradigm of looking at Asian American
Studies as an ethnic program designed exclusively for the targeted
population to have outlived its usefulness as an educational
construct. Asian American experience is an integral part of the
American experience and therefore needs to be explored by all. It
needs to be understood by students of Asian descent, but even more
critically, as Asian societies and Asian peoples play a growing
role in New York City and the world, education for all students
would have been left partially unfulfilled without a_ strong
grounding in crosscultural understanding including content and
perspectives from the Asian American experience. At present, CUNY
colleges and the public schools do not as yet have the capacity to
embrace this objective.

One approach is to borrow from the experience of the Asian
American Studies programs on the West Coast, which have a much
longer history. But those programs were established in the early
1970’s, when the political and social environment were quite
different from the 1990’s. Moreover, the Asian American community
on the East Coast contains a much higher percentage of recent
immigrants, whose experiences and growth patterns stand in sharp
contrast to those of the West Coast. There is a need to develop
Asian American studies more appropriate to local circumstances in

New York City while at the same time to contribute to models of


studying new patterns of migration.

Located in the largest urban city in this country, CUNY has
both the responsibility and the advantages of leading the effort in
developing Asian American Studies. Other colleges on the East
Coast about to launch such programs have turned consistently to
CUNY for models and technical assistance. The task of initiating
a comprehensive Asian American studies program is even more urgent,
considering how misunderstanding and lack of understanding of the
Asians have led to serious inter- and intra- racial conflicts.

CUNY and the New York Public Schools can help to alleviate
this by embarking on a major effort to develop a quality Asian
American studies educational curriculum from early years through

college.

PROPOSED PROJECT
This is a three year program proposal, servicing faculty
teams with about 30 in total. Each year focuses on a particular
theme: first year concentrates on the development of basic Asian
American studies core courses; second year focuses on the effort to
integrate Asian American studies content into a wide variety of
general course offerings; third year aims at building community
links in order to keep up with the changes, thus enhancing the
quality of the teaching material.
The two major components for each year are: a) a two-week

intensive summer seminar and b) monthly curriculum and pedagogy


seminar during the academic year. Under the guidance of external
consultants and project directors, the summer seminar will provide
the opportunity for faculty teams from various CUNY campuses and
the New York City Public Schools to immerse themselves in content,
pedagogy, and curricular issues pertinent to the theme under
discussion. The curriculum and pedagogy seminar during the year
will support participating faculty teams to develop curriculum and
teaching approaches specific to the needs of each campus and/or
school.

At the end of the three years the project is to produce: a)
monographs of curriculum guides, b) institutional plan for each
campus and/or school for Asian American studies, including all
aspects of collaboration, c) national conferences for other public,
urban and commuter colleges, that can benefit from the result of
this project, da) a bibliography on Asians in New York City, e) a
coordinated plan for community fieldwork placements.

Effort will be directed towards the creation of Asian American
studies task-forces on the administrative level to promote and
standardize its advancement at both CUNY and the New York City

Public Schools.

TIMETABLE
Spring 94 Writing proposal & seeking funding
Fall 94 Directors meet to establish applications for

faculty, guidelines & procedures, recruitment, & selection.

Spring 95 Preparing materials for summer seminar, securing
speakers, discussion leaders, etc.


Summer 95 Two-week intensive summer seminar to
develop the introductory core sequence.
Fall 95 Curriculum and pedagogy development seminars with
various academic disciplines.
Preparing for first dissemination conference: focus
on introductory core sequence.

Spring 96 Preparing materials for summer seminar; securing
speakers, discussion leaders, etc.
First dissemination conference.

Summer 96 Two week intensive summer seminar to discuss
successful examples of inter-program collaboration and to
introduce models of successful institutionalization efforts
at other colleges.

Fall 96 Mobilizing students and communities to develop
a bibliography on Asians in New York City.

Preparing for second dissemination conference: focus
on infusion models.

Spring 97 Preparing materials for summer seminar; securing
speakers, discussion leaders, etc.
Second dissemination conference.

Summer 1997 Two week intensive summer seminar to engage
community leaders in developing courses in community
studies and fieldwork.
Preparing for third dissemination conference:
summmation.

Fall 1997 Dissemination of printed materials; third
dissemination conference; filing of closing reports.

ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE
The overall project will be coordinated by a directing team:

Dr. Julia To-Dutka, Dean of Education, Baruch College

Dr. Peter Kwong, Director of Asian American Studies,
Hunter College

Dr. John Kuo Wei Tchen, Director of Asian American
Studies, Queens College

Dr. Jacob Wong, New York City Board of Education
Principal/ Special Assistant to the
Superintendent, Community School District #2

They will be assisted by a part-time program administrator
and a clerical assistant.


EVALUATION

An outside evaluator, expert in Asian American studies and
ethnic studies, will be identified to evaluate the entire project.
The evaluation plan will include: a review of the program plan and
all materials developed as a result of this effort, visitation of
the summer seminars and curriculum/pedagogy seminars, and
examination of the impact of program implementation on various

campuses and schools.